The Risk I'll Always Take
by saveanimpalarideanangel
Summary: Post season 6 finale. Dean tries to figure out how he can save Cas. Heavily implied slash. One shot.


The only thing Dean could think about was how, after everything they'd gone through, after all they'd seen and done and accomplished… Castiel could still just turn his back and walk away. Dean had thought he'd gotten through to him, that he made Cas feel something other than blind faith and the need to follow orders. Dean had thought he'd _meant _something to Cas; that Cas might have even felt the same way Dean had finally dared to.

And look where that had gotten him. Sitting in Bobby's dusty living room, finishing off a bottle of whiskey like some sort of fucking ditched prom date. His eyes began to sting, despite the muted light in the room, which must have meant… Fuck. His eyes were watering. But it wasn't from the pain thinking about what Cas had become. Not that it caused him pain. It must have been from the reek of Bobbys aftershave mixed with the dust floating through the air… Yeah, that was it.

He just had to get out of this fucking room. He had to stop running himself in circles, trying to figure out just how the fuck things had gotten so out of hand while he looked the other way, just because it had been _Cas _and Cas would never… Only he had, and- Fuck! Just, fuck! They had to think of something. They couldn't lose Cas. _Dean _couldn't lose Cas.

"Bobby, get this! I don't know how reliable it is, but according to some lore I found, an Angel who's gotten to powerful to be killed by archangel blade CAN be killed by-"

Dean pushed himself up and strode into the kitchen where Sam and Bobby had set up shop. The smell of Bobbys aftershave was even more potent in here, but for some reason, it no longer made Deans eyes water. Sam and Bobby stared at him as he paced a few small circles.

"Dean?"

"We are not- ARE NOT- going to just kill Cas. Not if there's any other option." Dean ran a shaky hand through his hair. If anyone was going to kill Cas, it would be Dean, but he wasn't going to do it, so, logicly, Cas wasn't going to die. Dean couldn't let that happen.

"Dean, have you seen the guy lately? I think it's a little late for looking for other options. I mean, what are we going to do? Host an intervention to tell him how seeing him going down this path is hurting us? Do you really thing the three of us, two hunters and an old drunk-"

"Watch it," Bobby interjected.

"Can come up with enough power to fight an angel who's so 'roided up on souls that he thinks he's the new God?"

Dean shook his head and turned away from the two people in the world he had left. As he began to walk toward the old fridge, he said, "There has to be some kind of hope. Our Cas is still in there somewhere. I mean, why else would he have let us escape in the first place?" He closed his hand around the well worn, smooth handle of the fridge and pulled it open. The cool air that rolled out and encased him would have been pleasant if it hadn't carried the smell of spoiled food. Regardless he knelt down to pull out a beer. "We'll figure something out," he insisted.

"It may not be that simple, Dean. What we've got here… Well, lets just say, I've been at this a _long _time, and I've never seen anyone with that kind of power, and I've never seen anyone go bad that quickly. It isn't a good combination."

"Yeah, well," Dean stood up, turned to face the other two men, and made a show of opening his beer bottle with just his fingers, "we've dealt with a shit load of 'not-so-simple' stuff, Bobby. Like when you were in a wheelchair. Or when you were hooked on demon blood, Sammy." Sams checks flushed and he dripped his eyes to the floor. "And do you guys remember when we had that whole 'figure-out-how-to-put-the-devil-back-in-his-cage' fiasco. That wasn't simple, but we-"

Dean froze mid-sentence. The devil… Why hadn't he thought of that before? His eyes widened, and his lips parted as his brain raced to throw this crazy plan of his together. It was so painfully obvious. Dean brought the cool glass of the beer bottle to his lips and took a swig, letting the bitter taste brake him from the shock of his sudden epiphany.

"Dean, I know that look. What are you thinking?"

"I've got it! I know how we can save Cas!: his face erupted into a smile and he set his beer onto the counter where it would sit, forgotten, for the next week.

"Dean-"

"Just hear me out Bobby." The older man hesitated, but finally exhaled and nodded his consent for Dean to continue. "Alright, I know this is going to sound crazy, but think about it. We might not be strong enough to contain Cas, but we know two guys who are. We even know _where _they are, because _we're _the ones who put them there." Dean looked back and forth between Sam and Bobby, holding his breath.

"You can't possibly mean who I think you mean. Cause if you do, then that's a whole new level of stupid even for _you, _ya idjit."

Dean licked his lips and pulled his eyebrows together, watching as Bobby took off his baseball cap off, and rubbed his forehead with the back of his hand.

"Lucifer and Michael? You want to spring Lucifer and Michael? _That's _your brilliant idea?" Sammy shook his head in disbelief.

"They're the only ones strong enough to do it."

"Come on, Dean! What makes you think they even would?"

"They'll owe us for getting them out."

"We're the ones that put them there in the first place. Don't you think they'll still be a little bitter about that, because I sure as hell do!"

Now it was Deans turn to stare at the floor. He took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of his nose. How could he explain to them that he couldn't lose Cas? How could he even begin to show them how this entire situation was making Dean crash and burn? He thought Sammy might have some understanding of it - God knows that he could read Dean like an open book - but could her possibly understand how deep those feelings ran, and how hard Dean had fought just to finally feel ok with this? Just to feel comfortable with the thought, just in time to have Cas ripped away? He could barely allow himself to think about it. How could he begin to articulate it to Sam and Bobby?

He found the courage to bring his eyes back up, and stared at the wall on the other side of the room.

"We have to try," he begged. "I… I can't lose Cas. I _can't._"

Dean made himself look back to his family, and watched as the put all of the pieces into place. He didn't see the harsh judgment he'd been dreading. He only saw the grave, concerned looks of his baby brother and stand in father.

Sammy crossed the room, and put a firm hand on Deans shoulder. "Bobby, you know how we can set the devil free?"

For a moment, all Bobby could do was shake his head, and Dean's stomach leapt into his throat. They couldn't do this if Bobby wasn't on bored.

"Ah, hell!" Bobby tossed his hat onto the table. "You boys are the stupidest sons of bitches I've ever met, and how you two manage to get yourselves in and out of this situations, we'll I'll never be able to figure that one out. But fine. If you have your heart set on getting Cas back, and you think making _another _deal with the devil is the way to do it, lets get to work. Just don't come crying to me when this whole thing blows up in our faces."

Dean didn't think he'd ever felt his heart beat so fast, and for the first time, he allowed himself to feel hope. Dean had been the risk that Castiel had always taken. It was time for Dean to start keeping the same faith.


End file.
